Cung Le’s MMA career has been marked by several extended layoffs as he’s tended to a budding movie career. Just this past week, his face popped up on big screens around the country in the martial arts flick, “The Man With the Iron Fists.”

But the 40-year-old fighter/actor said he’s been more consistent than ever in the past 12 months, and he expects his work to pay dividends in the cage against Rich Franklin at UFC on FUEL TV 6.

“I’ve just got to go out there and execute the game plan and make sure Rich doesn’t throw me off my rhythm,” Le told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

Le admits he hasn’t exactly been keyed into his own rhythm in his earlier career. He took the Strikeforce middleweight belt from Frank Shamrock in March 2008 only to relinquish it when movie offers started rolling in. When he returned to the cage in December 2009, his MMA career stalled with a third-round TKO loss to Scott Smith.

Six months later, Le avenged the loss, but then took another year-plus break. When he returned, this time in the UFC’s octagon, he lost to Wanderlei Silva by second-round TKO.

“I do notice a big difference, looking back, at every time I’ve taken off more than a year, whether I look sharp or not, I fade off in the third round,” he said. “Or against Wanderlei, I faded off in the second and I got caught.

“This is my third fight within a year’s time, so it’s been fun, and people can say now that I’ve been active.”

Fun is not the word he described to get himself physically healthy for fight, which takes place Saturday at CotaiArena in the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel (main-card fights air on FUEL TV while prelims stream on Facebook). In a previous interview with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Le described the painful measures he took to heal what he thought was a broken foot suffered in a decision win over Patrick Cote at UFC 149. Instead the victim of a bad bone bruise, he underwent a “bloodletting” procedure, where his foot was repeatedly prodded with needles and drained of excess blood. He also sought out ultrasounds and “Asian healing rubs.”

In sparring for Saturday’s bout, Le (8-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) kicked a sparring partner in the head and instantly felt his foot swell. Now, he said he’s “almost 100 percent.”

Franklin (29-6 MMA, 14-5 UFC) knows a thing or two about getting banged up in a fight. He’s suffered broken hands, noses, shoulders, feet and all other manner of damage in a decade of fighting. At 38, he now extols a training plan that puts less strain on his body.

The matchup, which was originally slated for UFC 148 before Franklin was pegged to headline UFC 147 opposite Silva, is not expected to crown either a contender. But it promises an action-packed fight between two striking-savvy fighters.

“My goal is to throw him off his rhythm,” Le said of Franklin. “I’m not going to give up any real estate. If he pressures in, I’ll angle off and stay in the pocket and throw my kicks. I can throw my kicks in close or far away, and I follow with my hands.”

Le noted that the pressure to win should be on the favored Franklin.

“Fighting someone like Rich is a win-win situation,” he said. “I’ve already won fighting Rich in a main event in China. Defeating Rich would put me on another level. I have the tools and I believe in myself, and that’s the biggest threat to Rich.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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